


My Ambition

by princeofegyptt



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: College, F/F, Four years after canon, I didn't mean to project on Sheena, Mystery Girl is Sheena, but here we are, dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 09:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10409538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princeofegyptt/pseuds/princeofegyptt
Summary: It’s been two years since they last saw each other.





	

Sheena looked around the music room. She had spent four of her bests years in that room, trying to earn a music degree. She had graduated long ago, but the room still filled her with nostalgia. It was here that she perfected her drumbeat, tried to riff a guitar, and even slapped a base or two. It’s too bad her music career never went anywhere.

Sheena sighed. Delmarva State was never the best university for music, but it was the one she could afford. Unfortunately, after graduation, she couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. She had been stuck in the college town, working the same coffee shop for years. She was surprised she wasn’t running the place yet.

That wasn’t true. She knew why she wasn’t running the place. She had no ambition. Sheena wanted to spend her life having fun, not working behind a counter. She wanted to go to more concerts, meet more people, ride her motorcycle into the sunset, fall in love again!

Love. She hadn’t so much as dated since…

Was that classical music?

The music room was one of several studios in a building just off campus. Most students who weren’t music or theater majors never went there, and most of those students never stayed past their classes. Sheena knew because she was one of the few who did stay. She figured she should just leave well enough alone, leave whatever student was practicing whatever to their own business, but for some reason the music sounded familiar to her. Sheena went into the next-door studio to figure out why.

And there she was. Her Pearl. For the first time in many years, Sheena saw her ex-girlfriend dance. The music was a ballet piece. The only one Pearl ever played for her. Sheena thought Pearl inspired the composer, but Pearl denied it. Looking at her now, Sheena did not doubt at all that Pearl inspired the whole damn style of dance. Her movements were graceful, like a feather flying through the air, and when she landed her toes barely made a sound. It’s like she was weightless. In a sense she was, body being made of light and all.

Sheena had forgotten how beautiful Pearl was when she danced, how absolutely in the zone she was, how she was able to just block everything out accept for the music, which she managed to follow with uncanny accuracy. Sheena was unable to move, unable to tear herself away from Pearl’s performance if she wanted to. She had never seen Pearl fuse with her fellow gems, but in that moment, she wished she a gem herself. It was not an unfamiliar feeling, she had wanted to fuse with Pearl back when they were dating, but to no avail. Sheena wished she could join her, but she didn’t. She knew she would never dance as well as Pearl did.

As the music drew to a close, Pearl’s performance ended as well. It was then that she noticed Sheena in the room. It had been a couple years, and her hair was purple now, but it was definitely Sheena. For a moment, the two locked eyes in silence.

“WOO-HOO! YAY PEARL!!”

Sheena blinked. In awe of Pearl’s dancing, she had not realized that they were not alone in the studio. Applauding Pearl was a guy sitting on the floor, casually dressed in a red shirt, with curly black hair in the shape of a wait a minute.

“Steven Universe?”

The guy turned around to show that he was, in fact, a college-age version of Pearl’s adoptive son. “Oh, my gosh!” he exclaimed as he scrambled over to his guardian’s ex, “Sheena, is that you? I haven’t seen you since you dated Pearl!”

Pearl blushed as she rushed over to Steven and Sheena. “Steven is considering going to college here, and so we came by to tour the place,” Pearl explained when she found her voice.

“This kid is old enough to go to college?” Sheena asked, ruffing Steven’s hair, “No way! Last I saw him, this kid was barely up to my waist!”

“What can I say? I’ve done a lot of growing!” Steven giggled. “Are you going to college here too?”

“Oh no, I used too, but I graduated a few years ago. I live in the area though, my apartment is down elm street.”

Pearl clasped her hands together. “That’s why the highway exit looked familiar! I didn’t recognize it at first because I usually saw it from a motorcycle.”

Sheena giggled.

Steven looked between the couple. “Say,” he said, “you know more about the restaurants around here more than us Sheena, do you think you could show Pearl and I a place with good food?”

“I’d be happy to Steven,” Sheena replied.

“Oh, but wait,” Pearl said, “we have that dinner with the student representative where you’re supposed to talk about tuition.”

“Hmm, this is quite the conundrum!” Steven began backing towards the door. “Well, how about this! I’ll go to the dinner with the representative, ask some questions about tuition, while you and Sheena check out that restaurant!”

“Steven…”

“I’ll be sure to take notes, byeeeeeee!” With that, Steven left the studio.

Pearl sighed. This was not how the weekend was supposed to go.

“Well, glad to see he hasn’t changed much,” Sheena joked.

* * *

 

The two friends found themselves in an Empire City style sub-shop. To Sheena’s surprise, Pearl ordered something to eat as well. “Been eating long?” Sheena asked as they sat down with their sandwiches.

“Hm?” Pearl looked up from her food. “Oh! Well, if Steven is going to be eating here, I have to make sure the food is tasty and nutritious.” She took a bite of her sandwich. As she chewed, a grimace crossed her face. “Well, it is tasty,” she said after swallowing.

Sheena smiled. Same ol’ Pearl. Except for the outfit. Since Sheena had saw her last, Pearl’s outfit had switched from a ballet look with a bow to a more casual look, with a loose tank-top, blue button-down shirt, and what appeared to be mom jeans. “So,” Sheena said, “I like the new outfit.”

“Thanks,” Pearl replied, “I was poofed during a fight with a corrupted gem, and this felt like a good look for me.”

“How is that going by the way? The Crystal Gem work I mean.”

“It’s actually going really good. Steven and Connie negotiated a peace treaty with Homeworld, White Diamond is researching how to permanently reverse corruption. Amethyst got her family to come to earth. The Cluster is stable in its bubble, but since the world hasn’t exploded, you probably knew that one.”

Pearl sighed. “It’s not all good times though,” she continued, “there are still hundreds of corrupted gems around the world. And, every so often, some old Homeworld soldiers will come to earth to ‘Finally destroy the Crystal Gems’ or ‘Reverse the treaty that never should have been’ or something like that. They never get past the beach, but it does get tiring after a while. How about you, how has your life been?”

“Oh, pretty good,” Sheena said, “I’m still working at the coffee-shop on Brooklyn. My apartment’s still a mess, my family keeps in touch. I have significantly less crazy adventures than you do.”

Pearl laughed. “Are you, uh…” Pearl looked at the table. “Are you seeing anyone right now?”

Sheena’s heart skipped a beat. Pearl was asking if she was single. Was she interested in getting back together? Did Sheena even want to get back together?

“No, not really. People flirt with me at work a lot, but the most I get out of them is a big tip.”

“Oh, I see.”

Sheena took a bite of a sandwich.

* * *

 

“I just don’t understand why he even wants to go to college. I’ve taught him all he needs to know for the last twelve years.”

“College isn’t just about learning though, it’s also about the experience. Meeting like-minded people, late-nights studying, doing research papers at the library, going to parties, college is like feeling the real world without being a part of it yet.”

“I guess so.”

“Besides, most jobs require a college degree these days.”

“Humans. I’ll never fully understand your culture.”

“You and me both.”

The couple had returned to Sheena’s apartment complex. Sheena was fine with going back by herself, but Pearl had insisted on seeing her home. Secretly, Sheena had hoped that Pearl would do more than that.

“By the way,” Sheena said, “out of curiosity, why were you dancing earlier?”

“Oh that.” Pearl looked down. “Steven wanted to see how to dance in that studio. I tried to tell him that I’d never been in a studio like that, but he put on the music and I went with it. Honestly, I hadn’t danced like that in a long time, I’m not sure it was any good.”

“I thought it was wonderful.”

As Pearl blushed, Sheena mentally kicked herself. Wonderful? What kind of compliment was that?

The two had finally made it to Sheena’s front door. “I had a good time tonight,” Sheena said.

“Me too,” Pearl replied, “if I’m ever in town again, I’ll be sure to look you up.”

“And hey, if Steven ends up going to Delmarva U., you’re welcome to stay here any time you visit.”

“I might take you up on that.”

Silence fell over the couple. For a moment, neither of them moved and instead just looked into each other’s eyes. They started to move their heads toward each other, lips parted, eyes beginning to close. Time seemed to stop.

Then Sheena turned away.

“I have an early morning tomorrow,” Sheena said as she opened her door, “I should probably get to bed.”

Pearl sighed. “Yeah, Steven’s probably waiting for me too. Have a good night Sheena.”

“You too Pearl.”

_Click._

In the safety of her own home, Sheena leaned her head against the door. She thought about the good time she had that night, the good times she had for many nights with Pearl. Two years. It had been two years since she had seen Pearl, and fate had had sent her dancing back into Sheena’s life. Sheena felt like a coward. She ended it with Pearl because she thought it would be too hard. An alien gem with a magic spear and a war against her own alien race? How high maintenance could you get?

But the war was over. Pearl had said so. There was a peace treaty. Every excuse Sheena had told herself had been completely refuted and she was given a second chance, but she still turned away like a coward. In another life, Sheena would have stayed, she would have fought alongside Pearl, she would have been there to protect her, to keep her from poofing. In yet another life, she actually did something with her music degree.

No. This wasn’t any other life. This was Sheena’s life. She couldn’t do much about her degree in this life, but she still wanted to share it with Pearl. She wanted to watch Pearl dance again, to see Pearl fight again, to see Pearl again. She wanted to go on more dates, and cuddle up on the couch, and help her understand humans, and gush over Steven’s accomplishments, and hold her when she cried, and…

Sheena tore open her door to find Pearl still standing on the other side of it.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

Pearl leapt into Sheena’s arms and attacked her lips with her own. Had Sheena been a gem, they would have fused right then and there. Instead, they were content to try and convey their feelings through their lips and their tongues. They passionately made out for what seemed like hours until Sheena needed air. In reality, it was only a few minutes.

“You know,” Pearl gasped, “if you hadn’t opened that door I think I would have broken it down.”

Sheena smiled. “Wanna try breaking my bed instead?”


End file.
